1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods of decomposing a gaseous medium, more specifically, the present invention relates to methods of utilizing radio frequency energy to separate the elemental components of gases such as carbon dioxide.
2. Background Art
In recent years, from the standpoint of conserving the earth's environment, the increase of the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere has come to pose a problem. The ambient concentration of carbon dioxide, which is one of the main causes of global warming, is increasing at a rate of 1 or more ppm every year, attributable to the consumption of fossil fuels, and thus, techniques for the effective treatment thereof are regarded as very important in the interest of energy resources and the environment. For the purpose of decreasing the gross amount of the carbon dioxide gas that is released into the atmosphere, attempts have been made to harness a gas turbine or a fuel cell for either recovering and recycling the carbon dioxide gas from the effluent gas emanating from energy plants and chemical plants which use fuels having hydrocarbons as main components thereof or depriving the effluent gas of harmfulness. Additional techniques for recovering carbon dioxide include absorption methods and adsorption methods, which have reached the stage of practical usefulness. Further, in the recovery of carbon dioxide from a great amount of exhaust gas, drastic reduction of energy consumption is required, but is presently difficult to technically implement.
In addition to carbon dioxide's potential effect on the environment, carbon dioxide also plays a major role in closed or sealed breathing environments. The breathing in of oxygen produces carbon dioxide as a “waste gas”. Carbon dioxide is an odorless gas that occurs naturally in air in a very small proportion of 0.03 vol %. Higher carbon dioxide contents in the surrounding air have an unfavorable physiological effect on humans. As small a concentration as 0.5 vol % CO2 in the surrounding air produces typical symptoms such as headache, which is why the maximal workplace concentration of CO2 is set at 0.5 vol % (5000 ppm).
In closed air conditioned spaces, for example, it is desirable to be able to regulate the carbon dioxide content in the air wherein excess CO2 is continuously removed from the air.
Moreover, lowering the CO2 content can be advantageously combined with additional measures to improve the room climate, for example, by enrichment of the room air with oxygen as well as air conditioning.
Conventional oxygen enrichment methods for improvement of the air quality in closed air circulation systems and rooms or cabins are mostly based on pure oxygen enrichment devices such as for example pressure swing adsorption systems or hollow fiber membrane systems. Exemplary corresponding devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,867,766; 5,890,366; 6,427,484; 5,158,584 and 4,896,514.
It has been known for a long time in various respiration processes that the breathing gases administered are prepared in a cyclic process for reasons of economy, safety and environmental protection, and components being consumed are replaced by supplementary feed and components whose concentration increases are maintained below a critical concentration value by separation.
The most important component whose concentration increases in a respiration system is carbon dioxide. The percentage of carbon dioxide that is to be removed depends on the particular application. Expiratory breathing air contains approximately 5% carbon dioxide. This concentration is to be reduced in cyclic processes to a maximum of 0.5%. In closed breathing circuits, as they may occur in space applications, submarines, mining, and the like, the percentage of carbon dioxide is usually to be reduced to markedly lower concentrations. The gas mixture from which the carbon dioxide is to be removed is likewise subject to variations in terms of its composition from one application to the next.
In order to avoid the disadvantageous environmental effects and/or physiological effects of carbon dioxide enrichment in room air stated above there is a demand for suitable and/or scalable systems and methods which make possible a depletion of the carbon dioxide content in the global atmosphere or room air of a closed environment for the purpose of separating the carbon dioxide in an efficient manner while simultaneously climatizing or enriching the global atmosphere or room air with oxygen that is a product of the carbon dioxide separation process.